Nail and spike extractor



Dec. 8, 1931 swo ET AL 1,835,443

NAIL AND SPIKE EXTRACTOR Filed May 1, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fred Swoycfgmmtow Thomas JBr yanZf,

chm/M 1931- F. SWOYER ET AL 1,335,443

NAIL AND SPIKE EXTRACTOR Filed May 1, 1930 2 Sheets$heet 2 Patented Dec.8, 1931 LUNITVE'DLS'JIATES PATENT OFFICE FRED SWOYER, or SILVER GROVE,AND THOMAS J. BRYANT, or oovnveron, KENTUCKY "ivAIL Ann SPIKE EXTRACTORV I Application filed Ma 1;

The invention extractor. i r

The object of the present invention is to improve the constructionofnail and spike extractors and toprovidea simple, practical andefiicient nail and spike extractor of strong, durable and comparativelyinexpensive construction equipped with'a plurality of nail andspikeextracting claws'adapted to successively operate on a nail or spikeand coa'ct with a single fulcrum of the extractor and obviatethenecessity of employing a socalled heel or other means 'supplemental to asingle fulcrum face forenabling the final stages ofthe extraction ofalong nail or spike to be completed.

Afurther object of the'invention is-toprovide a nail and spike extractorequipped with a relatively short outer claw adapted to enable greatleverage to'be exerted on a nail or spike to start it so that thenail'or' spike, after being started, may be successively operated on bya relatively long claw and co1nrelates to a nail and spike pletelyextracted by the same.

Another objectof the invention is to arrange the relatively short andrelatively long outer and inner claws so as to coact with'a singlefulcrum to obviate the necessity of providing a'plurality offulcrums andof changing the fulcrum in changin from one claw to another. It is alsoan object of the invention to enable the said inner and outer clawsv tobe arranged, when desired, so that the outer claw will bear against anintermediate portion of a long nail or spike while the same is beingoperated on by the relatively long claw, to avoid the severe bending ofthe nail or spike whichresults'from the use of an ordinary single clawnail or spike extractor, so as to enable the nail or spike to beextracted at the expenditure of less power than when the nail or spikeis severely bent and caused to frictionally engage andbind against oneof the walls of the hole.

WVith' these and other objects in view, the

1930. Serial no. 449,632.

invention consists in the construction and novel combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and set forth in the claims hereto appended, itbeing-understood that various changes in the form, proportion, and minordetails of construction, within the scope of the claims, may be resortedto without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing anyof the advantages thereof. e r

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a perspectiveview of a nail and spike extractor constructedin accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a side'elevation of the same illustrating the operation of theouterclaw, the

latter being in its initial position in full lines and its finalposition in dotted lines. v s Fig. 3 is a similar view illustrating theoperation of the inner claw.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing a nail and spike extractor providedwith three claws. Inthe accompanyin drawings, in which is illustratedthe preferred embodiment of the invention, the nail and spike extractorcomprises in its construction a shank 1 consisting of a-straight bar,preferably octagonal in cross section and having itscurved outer end 2curved forwardly and tapered as shown to increase the thicknessandstrength of the bar at the outer end, so that the nail and spikeextractor will be reinforced at the fulcrum formed by the curved outerend. The curved outer end 2 presents an outer convex face 8 which formsa single rolling fulcrum for the nail and spike extractor, which isprovided with a relatively short outer claw 4 forming a prolongation ofthe curved end 2 of the shank and presenting an outer face 5 whichmerges into the curved fulcrum face 3 of the end 2 of the shank. Thenail and spike extractor is also provided at the curved end 2 with arelatively long claw 6 extending from the inner side of the curved end 2of the shank and arranged at an angle to the relatively short outer clawl. Both claws are arranged to cooperate with the single rolling fulcrumof the shank and they are provided with similar openings 7 and S andhave grooves 9 and 10 at their inner ends forming continuations of thenail and spike receiving openings of the claws and adapted toaccommodate the headsof the nails and spikes. The openings 7 and 8 haveside walls which are parallel at the front faces of the claws, and thesaid walls are inclined and converge towards each other bothlongitudinally and laterally. The walls of the grooves are curved andconnect and merge into the inner ends of the side walls of the openings.

The claws are spaced one above the other and extend from the samerolling fulcrum and each successive claw has a longer leverage. Anynumber of claws may be employed, and in Fig. 40f the drawings isillustrated a nail and spike extractor having three claws 11, 12 and 13.

In operating the nail and spike extractor, the relatively short outerclaw is engaged with a nail or spike as illustrated in Fig. 2 ofthedrawings. The outer claw having a short leverage enables the operatorwith a short arm movement to start the extraction of the nail or spikewith less effort than with an ordinary single claw nail and spikeextractor, which of necessity and for practicability must be constructedwith a longer leverage than the short outer claw in order to I; enablethe operator of such single claw extractor to complete the extraction ofshort nails andv spikes and. also to make as full and as complete anextraction of long nails and spikes as possible. After the initial'andpartial extraction of a nail or spike, as illustrated in dotted lines inFig. 2 of the drawings, the nail is loosened in the hole and can then befurther extracted with less effort than at the beginning of theoperation. The operator engages the head of the partially extracted nailor spike with the inner relatively long claw, as illustrated in Fig. 3of the drawings. The relatively long inner claw, having a longerleverage than the outer claw, enables the operator to complete theremoval of the nail or spike with another short arm movement and withoutbuilding up a fulcrum under the single rolling fulcrum formed by thecurved end of the shank.

The nail and spike extractor may be constructed of any suitable size,and be provided with any number of claws. The size of the devices willcorrespond to the character of the nails or spikes to be extracted. Amuch lighter and shorter handle may be employed than is usually requiredby the ordinary single claw extractor, as the short claw will enable anail or spike to be readily started with a short arm movement, and theinitial stage of the extraction of a heavy nail or spike may beaccomplished with less effort than is required by the ordinary singleclaw extractor, and after the nail or spike is loosened in the hole bythe initial stage of the extraction, the intermediate and final stagesof removal may be effected with av longer and lighter claw than ispossible with a single claw extractor because of the loosening of thenail or spike in. the initial stage of the extraction. The relativelyshort outer claw of the nail and spike extractor during the final stagesof the extraction will come in contact with the nail or spike asillustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and eliminate some of the angularpull of the relatively long claw and will assist materially in the-easeof'the extraction.

WVhat is claimed is:

1. A nail and spike extractor comprising a shank consisting of a barhaving its outer end curved forwardly and presenting an outer curved endface forming a single rolling convex fulcrum, a relatively short outerclaw forming a prolongation of the curved end of the shank and having anouter face merging into the curved face of the rolling fulcrum, and aninner relatively long claw extending from the curved end of the shank,said inner and outer claws having similar claw openings and bothcooperatingwith the-said single fulcrum to successively operate on anail or spike, and the outer claw being adapted to cooperate with theinner claw and bear against an intermediate portion of the nail or spikewhile the same is being operated on by the inner claw during the finalstages of extraction of said nail or spike to increase the ease ofextraction.

2. A nail and spike extractor comprising a shank consisting of a barhaving its outer end curved forwardly and. presenting an outer curvedend face forming a single rolling convex fulcrum, a relatively shortouter claw forming a prolongation of the curved end of the shank andhaving an outer face merging into the curved face of the rollingfulcrum, and an inner relatively long claw extending from the curved endof the shank, said inner and outer claws having similar openingsconverging inwardly from parallel lines at the front faces of the clawsand the latter being provided with central curved grooves formingextensions of the openings to accommodate the head of the nail or spikeand the said outer claw being arranged to cooperate with. the inner clawand bear against an intermediate portion of the nail or spike while thesame is being operated on by the inner claw during the llllfll stages ofextraction of said nail or spike to increase the ease of extraction.

3. A nail and spike extractor comprising a shank consisting of a barhaving its outer end curved forwardly and presenting an outer curved endface forming-a single rolling con vex fulcrum, a relatively short outerclaw forming a prolongation of the curved end of the shank and having anouter face merging into the curved face of the rolling fulcrum,

and an inner relatively long claw extending from the curved end of theshank, said inner and outer claws having similar claw openings and bothcooperating with the said single fulcrum to successively operate'on anail or spike.

In testimony whereof wehavehereunto set our hands.

FRED SWOYER. THOMAS J. BRYANT;

